‘Arrow’ Sets Dolph Lundgren’s Extended Role for ‘Vigilante’ Debut

Arrow Season 5 has itself on solid footing – even making the flashbacks seem borderline watchable again. At least part of that owes to the impending arrival of Dolph Lundgren as the villainous Kovar, now scheduled to make his extended debut by a new Season 5 press release.

When the bodies of two criminals are dropped at SCPD, Oliver (Stephen Amell) realizes there is a new Vigilante in Star City. The team is split about whether they should stop someone who is helping keep the city safe. Diggle (David Ramsey) is frustrated with his new situation and Thea (Willa Holland) fights for Lance (Paul Blackthorne) who confesses a shocking secret.

Intriguingly, a new bit from Entertainment Weekly reveals that where Lundgren’s role was originally intended for three episodes, producers quickly expanded it to fit the actor’s towering presence. Says executive producer Marc Guggenheim of the character:

Kovar is very much a villain certainly in the Arrow vein, which is to say he’s pretty badass, he’s pretty evil, but he, of course, does not think of himself as such. He thinks of himself as doing the right thing, which, in that sense, makes him very similar to a lot of the villains that we’ve had in the past. What is interesting about Kovar is he has a mix of intelligence and physical presence that we haven’t necessarily seen. He’s physically bigger than a lot of our villains that we’ve had in the past.

We’ll see for ourselves in November, but stay tuned for more from Arrow Season 5, check out our review of this weeks’ “Penance,” as well as the trailer for next week’s “Human Target” below.